Pakistan indicts Musharraf for Bhutto's murder

Charges stem from 2007 attack on nation's iconic former PM

Published: 08/20/2013 at 3:35 PM

(CBS NEWS) A Pakistani court on Tuesday indicted former President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on murder charges in connection with the December 2007assassination of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, raising the specter of fresh discord between the country’s civilian politicians and the powerful army, which maintains close ties with the U.S.

Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi, an aide to the former leader, confirmed to CBS News that Musharraf had been indicted by a court in the city of Rawalpindi, outside Islamabad, where Bhutto was fatally shot just minutes after a political gathering. Musharraf ruled Pakistan for nine years, from 1999 when he seized power in a military coup, until 2008.

In an interview with CBS News correspondent Lara Logan after Bhutto’s assassination, Musharraf said the slain prime minister was well aware of the risks she faced in her home nation.